The Heart: Frida Kahlo in Paris
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3.3 • 6 Ratings
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
This intimate account offers a new, unexpected understanding of the artist’s work and of the vibrant 1930s surrealist scene.
In 1938, just as she was leaving Mexico for her first solo exhibition in New York, Frida Kahlo was devastated to learn from her husband, Diego Rivera, that he intended to divorce her. This latest blow followed a long series of betrayals, most painful of all his affair with her beloved younger sister, Cristina, in 1934. In early 1939, anxious and adrift, Kahlo traveled from the United States to France—her only trip to Europe, and the beginning of a unique period of her life when she was enjoying success on her own.
Now, for the first time, this previously overlooked part of her story is brought to light in exquisite detail. Marc Petitjean takes the reader to Paris, where Kahlo spends her days alongside luminaries such as Pablo Picasso, André Breton, Dora Maar, and Marcel Duchamp.
Using Kahlo’s whirlwind romance with the author’s father, Michel Petitjean, as a jumping-off point, The Heart: Frida Kahlo in Paris provides a striking portrait of the artist and an inside look at the history of one of her most powerful, enigmatic paintings.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Documentary filmmaker Petitjean examines the little-known story of Frida Kahlo's time in pre-WWII France and her whirlwind romance with his father, Michel Petitjean, in this captivating biography. Preparing to leave Mexico in 1938 for her first solo exhibition in New York, Kahlo discovered that her husband, painter Diego Rivera, was having an affair and intended to divorce her. Seeking consolation, Kahlo sailed to France in early 1939 at the invitation of surrealist Andre Breton, who had recognized her talent during a 1938 visit to Mexico. While in Paris, Kahlo socialized with Pablo Picasso, Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, and Elsa Schiaparelli; celebrated the exhibition of her work with other Mexican art at the Pierre Colle Gallery; and enjoyed a passionate affair with art journalist Michel Petitjean, before giving him her self-portrait of heartbreak called The Heart, "so you don't forget me." What emerges is a perceptive portrait of an artist finding herself and learning to love and paint again. Fans of Kahlo's art and of the surrealist movement will want to give this thoughtful and illuminating work a look. Correction: An earlier version of this review misspelled the author's last name.
